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A local winery by me does the same thing. Seems like a good way to bring in business and build a community. Kids would have a blast probably

Ok I'll plan on pressing tomorrow. I was going to rack off the gross lee's after 24 hours but you're saying to wait a week? That goes against everything I've read about letting wine sit on gross lee's. I plan to use a mesh kitchen strainer to catch most of the heavy stuff but I'm sure a lot...

@winemaker81 thanks for the advice. I just took another reading and the must temp is hanging around around 72, room temp is 66. Sg 1.003 and brix 0.7. Looks like fermentation is continuing, I will check tomorrow morning and I'm hopefully it will be at 1.000 and I can press. I may press anyway...

I plan to press when it's dry. According to the more wine manuals it states "If you are using a hydrometer, the alcohol in the sample will skew the accuracy of the result; a reading of 0° Brix is not actually dry. Because alcohol is lighter than water, you will need a reading of –1.5° to –2° for...

So here's the evening update. Brix 4.9 SG 1.020. Punched down around 530 and the smell isn't what @winemaker81 described, more of a gym locker kinda smell with maybe a hint of sulfur but nothing that knocks me on my butt. It seems to go away after stirring, or maybe I just go nose blind. When...

I was thinking about my 3 prior fermentations with juice buckets and they all smelled good, almost like a juicy fresh floral smell. This current fermentation started off ok, didn't smell like too much of anything, ever since the must temp went up to the high 70s is when I noticed the smell...

How much Kmeta per gallon? Is that going to negatively affect the yeast? This is still fermenting.

Thanks for all the advice so far. The fermentation is continuing. I have not added anything but last night I started to smell what I thought was the beginning of some funky odors (since tbisbisy first time we grapes I don't really know how it's supposed to smell). Fast forward to this morning...

Can you recommend a basic pH meter? I don't want to sound cheap but all this equipment starts to add up🤔

Thanks, your right about the sanitary aspect with having the dog in there. I'll keep that in mind next time. Luckily he is very picky and wouldn't eat a grape if we forced it on him, so not to worry there. About the press, I posted some more photos in this thread Lead paint in old press? it...

Thanks for all the replies. Very interesting discussion. I punched down about an hour ago and took some more readings. The temp of the must went up about 10 degrees and is now around 77 (garage temp is 67, today was warm a humid compared to the last few days). Yesterday morning the must was...

I'm thinking about adding water because the last thing I want is a stuck fermentation for my first time. I will have acid by tomorrow so I can add that as well. My question now is what effect will adding that much water have on the taste of the finished wine. 1.25 gallons is 16% of the liquid...

Let's say assuming I get tartaric acid before the alcohol levels rise very much, is it ok to dilute the must with acidulated water since fermentation has already begun? Would that have any effect on the yeast activity? I assume the diluted water would be close to the pH of the must, so the...

When would you add the tartaric acid? Is it too late to do it now that fermentation is underway? I don't have any way to measure pH, are there any cheap ways(trying to be cost effective here). I will pick up some ec1118 just to be ready

Hey guys, this is my first year making some with grapes. In the past few years, I made 3 batches of juice buckets which were just ok. I was gifted a wine press and now am looking to do better with real grapes. I was hoping to get them a few weeks ago but due a vacation I had planned, I...

https://www.juicegrape.com/Tub-Fermenting-Assorted-Sizes/ Look into something like those. They should be wide and low enough to get in and stomp. They come in different sizes. Do a Google search, you can find a few places that sell them

Quick update. I called gino pinto and they don't have the half moons in stock. I'm waiting for a call back to see if they will order them for me. Balatonwine, thanks for those pictures. I think I may do something similar to that since finding wide boards is proving to be expensive. Cap...

Thanks for all the replies. My press is the the "No. 104" in this picture. it's a 17 inch tub which is approximately 43 cm. These picture are from when first got. I've since replaces some of the staves with white oak and painted the rusted legs. Once I'm all done I'll post some more photos...

Thanks for the ideas so far. I'd like to do this without spending a ton of money and as I have no scrap white oak laying around I will be buying it all for this project. With that said, the dimensions of each half moon plate is approximately 7 1/4 inches wide by 14 1/2 inches long, so boards...

That seems like a good idea. I'm not a very experienced wood worker but I should have enough of the tools to join some pieces together. What about thickness? 1.5 to 2 inches thick should be strong enough to stand up to the pressure of the press? I was thinking of using either 3/4 inch or 1...